Price to Play
by NiteMareB4XMAS
Summary: A new war is happening in Wonderland and it involves Blood and his family. With Blood captured by the enemy, can his youngest son Anthony find his long lost sister in time to save the Hatter and end the war? Or will everything go to ruins? Based off the ending of the manga where Alice ends up with Blood. Rated M for violence, language, and some adult content.
1. Prologue

_**First attempt at this series so if it sucks I'm sorry.**_

_**WARNING: Rated M for violence, language, and some adult content.**_

_**Alice in the Country of Hearts/Alice no kuni no heart belongs to Quin Rose, original characters belong to me.**_

_**~NiteMareB4XMAS**_

In a land where time goes by no order and its denizens play by the rules of a strange game, where the difference between the main players and the others was if they had a face or not, a young boy sat by two lone graves. To him and his family, these headstones were significant, which was somewhat unusual in their world for death was a common thing and there were not that many who valued their lives since they knew they would be born again. No, these tombstones were for two people who could not be replace, but what made them unusual was that only one bared a name while the other remain an unmarked grave. These strange gravestones belong to the little boy's older siblings: a pair of twins, a boy and a girl. Though the boy did not know the whole story behind their deaths, he did know that their demise was the major turning point for what now was an over a decade war, and since his sister's body was never recovered or found, her grave was left unmarked in hopes that she was still alive.

_Well that's what mummy told me anyway. _The lad thought as he sat between the two graves, facing the pond that apparently was his older brother and sister's favorite spot to play; he would often visit his siblings and talk to them about anything, just to keep them company.

However, it seemed that about all of the land's natives believed that his older sister was also dead the day that the enemy delivered her twin's lifeless body as a warning to the boy's family. It was almost to the point that his parents started to lose their faith that the girl was alive too, but the young boy still believed. He knew for a fact that she was alive; his friend Nightmare said it himself. The older man also told the lad that he might be able to bring the boy's sister back but Nightmare needed the boy's help.

_**When you fall asleep I will connect you to her in your dreams, but you must be careful with what you say to her, her mind is in a delicate state.**_

That was what the dream demon told him at the beginning, Nightmare also told the lad not to tell anyone what they were doing for it was a "surprise".

_Mummy will definitely enjoy the surprise, and daddy too when he comes back from work! _The boy thought excitedly. _Then they won't be so sad anymore!_

"Anthony dear, it's time to go." The soft voice of his mother said as she walked up to him, carrying two roses in her hands. She was a beautiful woman with long light brown hair and aqua-green eyes. "It is time to go to your aunt's."

"How long are we going to stay with auntie, mummy?" Little Anthony asked as his mother laid a single rose in front of each grave. She then helped her son to his feet before grabbing his hand and leading him away from his late siblings.

"Just until your father comes back, but don't worry, your uncles Elliot, Dee, and Dum are coming with us too."

"Yay!" The boy cheered as the two walked back to the mansion where the mentioned three were waiting with a group of faceless servants, each of them carrying a bag that most likely held some of their belongings.

"There you two are! We were about to leave without you!" Elliot teased once the group spotted the mother and son.

"Sorry Elliot, Anthony was saying goodbye to his brother and sister." Anthony's mother said with a sad smile. The rabbit eared man just returned the smile before ruffling the young boy's head.

"Lady Dupre, we should probably get going before the time period turns to night." A faceless butler suggested as the woman sighed, giving the mansion that she has called home a forlorn look before turning away.

"Yes, let's get going." She murmured as the group set off, the woman never letting her son's hand go.

_Don't worry mummy, everything will be okay soon. _Anthony thought as he squeezed his mother's hand reassuringly. _Big sister will be here soon and help fix everything!_

If the little boy only knew…


	2. Chapter 1

It was just another Saturday at _She-Devil Tattoos _for its tattoo artists; slow and nothing much going on client-wise. The shop was located in Hale City, a dangerous town where there were constant gang fights and criminal activity, and not enough cops in the local police station to handle the crime wave. The crime rate was so bad that most people nicknamed the town as Hell's City. Ironically the tattoo shop, which also was the first floor of an apartment complex that the owner and her artists lived, held one of the smallest gangs, the Cards Crew, their gang name coming from their love of playing cards. It was a gang of four girls each having a Celtic designed, card suit tattooed on their wrist, and the shop's owner being their fifth, unofficial member who held down the fort. Though they were one of the smallest gangs, the four girls could hold their own against crews almost triple their group's size, and unlike other gangs, they fought so that their shop that they called home would be safe; and each of the girls had a story to tell, including the shop's owner.

First there was Lilith Queens, the proud owner of _She-Devil Tattoos_. She is a 29 year old woman with long black hair and brown eyes who had inherited the shop from the previous owner, Vince Woods, who also happened to have taught her everything he knew. Lilith was only 13 when her parents died and she was thrown out on the streets. She had to resort to selling her body to get by for nearly a year when Vince took her in and made her his apprentice and adopted daughter. When Vince died from a heart attack, in his will it stated that Lilith would be the new owner and has been ever since. Throughout the years she had continued the tradition that her foster father started and adopted four girls who she took off the streets: Pope, Audrey, Ember, and Jade, the four girls who made up the Cards Crew and being the their foster mother, Lilith is the unofficial fifth Cards member and has a Celtic black and red Q on her wrist.

Pope is a 19 year old girl with long blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes. She is the youngest member and is known as Heart, for she bares the red Celtic heart on her wrist and that she is the most kind hearted of the group. Pope was 11 when she ran away from her abusive mother who constantly drank and beat her daughter; she was found by Lilith's first adopted daughter, Jade shortly after. Though Lilith has taught all the girls to be tattoo artists, Pope prefers to do piercings and is the shop's body piercer. When in a fight Pope usually either uses her fists to knock out her enemies or when things tend to get bloody, she brings out her knives and rarely uses her gun. She is also Jade's right hand "woman" since the two have known each other the longest.

Known as Clover and having a black Celtic club suit tattooed onto her wrist, Audrey is a 22 year old girl with medium length, dark red hair and hazel colored eyes; she is sly and light on her feet and who tends to win lots of money when it comes to gambling. Never knowing who her parents were, Audrey grew up in the local orphanage until she was ten years old, that is when she met her sister-in-crime, Ember who was a year older than her. The two quickly became delinquents and thieves; stealing, pick pocketing, the two of them practically got away with it all. It was only when Audrey was 16 and Ember was 17 that Lilith, Jade, and Pope caught the two of them trying to steal cash from the tattoo shop. The shop owner and her two daughters instantly earned the respect from the two thieves when Jade and Pope convinced Lilith to take the two in and teach them the ways of tattooing.

Ember is the slightly crazed daredevil of the group, who fears practically nothing and will jump into any fight head first. Her parents thought she was insane, when in reality she just had an imagination wilder than most kids, when she was younger and put her in an insane asylum. After spending a year there she was released into the custody of an orphanage since her parents abandoned her. From a very young age taught herself how to pick locks at her time at the asylum and can practically break into anything. She's a short tempered, 23 year old, long brown haired and onyx eyed girl who favors using her guns in fights and is known as Diamond with a red Celtic diamond tattooed on her wrist for her love of shiny things. With her sister-in-crime, both Ember and Audrey are deadly when it comes to a gun fight.

Last but not least is Jade, known as Spade (Ember and the others gave her that title as a joke since it rhymed with her name) and having the black Celtic spade on her wrist, she is Lilith's very first adopted daughter and the leader of the Cards Crew. She is the second youngest of the gang, only being at the age of 21. She has short raven black hair with choppy bangs, and sharp jade green eyes that usually hides behind a pair of thin, rectangular framed glasses. About ten years ago Lilith found Jade unconscious with a bullet wound in her left shoulder area. After Jade woke up in the hospital after being treated, the girl could not remember anything, not even her own name; the only thing that she knew was that she was 11 years old and her birthday was July 13th. So with very little thought about it, Lilith took the young, bizarre girl in and gave her the name "Jade" due to the young girl's eye color. After about two years Lilith finally made Jade her apprentice when it came to the art of tattooing. Throughout the years Jade has not recovered any of her memory from prior of waking up in the hospital, which is odd since she has an eidetic memory and is often called a "walking tape recorder" by her foster sisters since she can quote just about anything from memory.

To her sisters Jade is a strong leader who is always level headed during critical situations; she does not tolerate foolishness and has strong morals that she sticks to. Jade is also a hard worker and takes her work seriously when it comes to tattooing. She is humble by nature and usually hates it when her sisters call her "Boss" or their leader; she does not see herself as a leader especially when she knows her sisters are capable to lead their gang. Like Pope, Jade usually fights hand-to-hand but if push comes to shove she will pull out her gun and she is considered the best shot out of the Cards Crew. Lately though she has been having dreams of tea parties at night and card games in a rose garden; yet the people in her dreams were always blurred to her.

_And now I'm having weird ass dreams of a little boy. _Jade thought as she lounged in her chair that her clients usually sat in, listening to her iPod while her foster mom and sisters played poker. _But last night's dream was the strangest so far…_

_**The young woman found herself in a vast world of blacks, blues, purples and greens but she wasn't alone. There was a little boy with messy black hair with light brown highlights and had emerald green eyes. He was dressed in black pants, an orange, long sleeved, button up collared shirt, a black sleeveless vest over it, orange knee high boots, and an orange cap with a black rim; on the hat was the four card suit symbols in different colors and a mini top hat insignia above that. He appeared to be about nine or ten years old. Next to him were two older men, one with messy blue-black hair and golden eyes, the other having silver hair and eyes, one being covered by an eye patch. **_

Okay, I'm used to the little guy but who are the other two? _**Jade thought to herself as the orange clad boy ran up to her with a silly grin.**_

"_**Hi Miss Jade! I brought some of my friends with me this time!" He said excitedly as he grabbed her hand and brought her over to the other two men. **_

"_**I am Nightmare Gottschalk, miss." The silver haired man introduced himself before gesturing to the man next to him. "And this is Gray Ringmarc."**_

"_**Umm…hi?" She said uncertainly, clearly wondering what the hell she ate before she fell asleep to make her dream this. **_Oh yeah, Audrey's chili dogs. They always do weird shit to me but they're so good! _**She thought with amusement; her attention was redirected to the little boy as he tugged on her hand.**_

"_**Miss Jade, we want to know if you would like to come and visit us."**_

"_**Visit? Visit you where Anthony?" Jade asked.**_

"_**Wonderland of course!" He giggled. "I want you to meet my mummy, my daddy, my auntie, my uncle and all of my friends!"**_

"_**Sure Anthony, but how will I get there?" She asked, deciding to humor the boy since she figured this was just a messed up dream her stressed out brain created. The boy's emerald eyes instantly lit up with joy. **_

"_**Nightmare and Gray will help! Nightmare will make a path to get to Wonderland and then Gray and I will come get you!" **_

"_**Okay Anthony, whatever you say."**_

_Definitely a fucked up dream._ Jade concluded in her mind as she stretched, pulling out her ear buds before wrapping them around her iPod and stuffing the device into her pocket. "I'm going to head out for a walk, be back in a bit." She announced as she headed towards the door.

"Don't be too long, pizza is going to be here in the next half hour." Lilith said. "Also be careful Jade, I heard that there have been more fights on 3rd and 4th street."

The 21 year old just waved her hand in acknowledgement just before heading out of the shop. The raven haired girl then decided to head to the park and headed towards that direction. As she walked her mind kept wandering back to the two men that were in her dream. For some reason she felt odd around them, like she has met them before. _Well if they're figments of my warped imagination, then it's pretty obvious that they're familiar; I probably imagined them in some shape or form at one point. _Her mind thought logically but a part of her did not seem convinced. It was a tiny part arguing that she did not feel that way when she met Anthony for the first time, that he was not something she imagined and that if she imagined the other two she would have remembered when she did. She was so deep into her thoughts that she did not realize that she was being followed until she heard a voice that made her heart stop.

"Miss Jade! Miss Jade!" Anthony's all-too-familiar cheerful voice called out before she felt a small hand grab hers from behind her.

_No way, there is no way that this kid is real. I am dreaming and I will wake up in my chair back at the shop. _Jade pleaded in her mind but as she felt a tug on her hand, her body turned around on its own and sure enough Anthony, all clad in orange and black, was staring up at her with big emerald eyes and a bright grin on his face. _Holy shit, this kid is real._

That thought was only confirmed when Gray ran up to them, a relieved look on his face. It then turned stern when he gazed at the young boy. "Anthony, you know not to run off without someone with you at all times!" The man reprimanded the lad as Anthony looked down guiltily.

"Sorry Gray, I was just so excited to be in Miss Jade's world that I couldn't wait to find her." The boy murmured as he shuffled his feet. Gray's harsh stare soften at this.

"All right, I forgive you. Just please don't do it again. Your mother and aunt would kill me if I lost you." The man said with a small smile before looking at Jade. "You seemed to be surprised that we are here Jade."

"Well it's not every day you meet someone you thought was part of your imagination." She said absentmindedly, still a bit shocked that this was really happening. This made the gold eyed man chuckle.

"Yes indeed, I guess Lord Nightmare was right when he said that you didn't believe what was going in the Dream Realm was actually real." He said with an amused smile, he then gestured behind him. "Now shall we be going? Or are you a woman that goes back on her word?"

This struck a nerve within her. "No, I am not a woman who goes back on her word." She said with a pleasant smile but her green eyes glowered at the man. "Now lead the way Ringmarc."

The man just smirked before walking in the direction he came from, Anthony still holding Jade's hand and leading her too. As the three went deeper into the woods all that Jade could think about was how worried her foster mom and sisters would be when she did not show up in time for pizza.

_Well it's not like I can tell them I'm going to a world that people who I thought were part of my imagination lived, because that would definitely sit well with them. _She thought sarcastically. Her thoughts were cut short though when Gray and Anthony stopped in front a giant black hole in the ground that seemed to have no end to it.

"You two came out of there." She deadpanned as she stared at the hole with disbelief.

"Yup!" Anthony said with a grin.

"I'll go first; see you on the other side." Gray said before jumping into the hole to Jade's utter amazement. She snapped out of it when Anthony let go of her hand and headed towards the hole.

"C'mon Miss Jade!"

"Anthony wait!" She called out but she was too late, the boy already hopped into the hole and disappeared. Seeing that she couldn't turn back now due to her curiosity, Jade let out a curse before jumping in after the two. After what seemed to be like hours of freefalling in total blackness, she was met with the bright light of the morning sun before her feet touched solid ground.

_Okay, I am pretty sure it was afternoon back at Hell's City. _She thought as she took in her surroundings. She seemed to be at a tower of sorts with 12 pillars surrounding it and what appeared to be two clock hands above her. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt someone put a hand on her shoulder, her hand instantly going for her gun that was strapped to her side.

"Jade it's only me." Gray's voice said with a chuckle. "No need to shoot me."

"Miss Jade, we're here! Welcome to Wonderland!" Anthony cheered as he spread his arms out wide with glee.

"Yes Jade, welcome to Wonderland." Nightmare's amused voice said before he appeared with a group of armed, faceless people. Only one thought went through Jade's mind when she saw the new arrivals:

_What have I gotten myself into?_


	3. Chapter 2

"So let me get this straight," Jade began as the large group headed through a maze to get to their destination: Hearts Castle. "In this world, time is completely random, people with faces are Role Holders, and everyone is loaded with weapons."

"And everyone here has a clock for a heart." Nightmare reminded her with a smirk.

"Except mummy and I, we have hearts!" Anthony said as Jade's mind whirled with all the new information.

"It's because Anthony's mother was an outsider who decided to stay in Wonderland. Anthony inherited his heart from his mother so he doesn't have a clock for a heart like his father." Nightmare explained once he saw the confused look on Jade's face.

"So Anthony is like a hybrid?"

"In a way yes, even though he has a heart he can summon weapons or turn any object he touches into a weapon. Anthony also heals faster due to his genetics but not as fast as a Role Holder does."

_Damn this world is fucked up. _She thought as the group finally made it out of the maze and up the hill to the castle.

"Yes you can say that." Nightmare mused with a smirk.

"I didn't say anyth-"

"I can read minds."

"What!"

Meanwhile Alice Dupre was pacing back and forth in the Queen of Hearts' library that has now turned into a temporary work room for the Clock Maker of Wonderland, Julius Monrey.

"You are going to burn a path into the carpet if you keep it up." He said, never taking his eyes off his work. "I'm sure that Anthony will be back, he has Nightmare and Gray with him."

Alice just stopped and stared at the man sheepishly. "Sorry Julius, it's just I get so nervous when I don't know where Anthony is, no matter who he's with."

"Understandable, but please stop pacing you're making me antsy just watching you." The blue haired man said before taking a sip of his coffee that the woman brought him earlier. "85 points, there's too much sugar in it."

This made the woman smile since it reminded her of the times she lived in the Clock Tower with the antisocial man. _It's hard to believe that it was almost 23 years ago I came here, and Julius and the others still look the same._ She thought with a wistful smile. Though she too did not age much being that this was a dream world, she knew that unlike the others, she would eventually die of old age even if she still looked like she was in her mid to late twenties. She was brought out of her musings when a Hearts maid entered the room.

"Lady Dupre, Lord Nightmare and Lord Gray have returned with the young master." She announced as Alice's eyes lit up. "They also brought an outsider with them and the Queen would like all the Role Holders to meet her."

"What?! A new outsider at a time like this?!" The wife of the Hatter nearly screamed with fury before storming out of the library to the entrance hall, Julius and the maid right on her tail. "What is that man thinking?! It's too dangerous for an outsider to be here right now!"

"Knowing Nightmare, there is probably a reason behind it." Julius sighed as the three made it to the entrance hall where the Queen of Hearts, Vivaldi, was waiting along with Ace, Peter, the King, Elliot, Dee and Dum, Pierce, Boris, Gowland and finally the Jokers, Black and White; all of them with different expressions at the thought of a new outsider. As the castle doors opened, in came Nightmare and Gray at the front of the group of faceless servants and in the middle of the group, a young woman was holding hands with Anthony. Once the young boy caught sight of his mother he grinned happily before dragging the young woman with him as he ran up to Alice.

"Mummy, this is Miss Jade! I've been talking to her in my dreams!" He announced as Alice's eyes widen before narrowing at a sheepish Nightmare.

_You and I are going to have a talk later Nightmare. _She said in her mind as the man slightly flinched from the undertone of anger in the thought. Alice then turned her eyes on the new outsider before her. The girl appeared to be in her late teens, early twenties and was tall for her age; she wore a black corset top that had short sleeves, a pair of black, ripped up jeans, and black sneakers, a black fedora with five sterling silver rings pierced through the brim and a sterling silver skull and cross bones above it was perched on her head, and she also wore a pair of glasses. It was hard to make out her some of her facial features because of how the fedora was placed upon her head; all that Alice could tell was that the girl before her had green eyes and short black hair. What stood out the most on the girl though was the four piercings of all of the card suits on each ear and the tattoo of a Celtic black spade on her right wrist.

_And is that a gun attached to her hip? _Alice thought incredulously as she spotted a .45 handgun in a black leather holster strapped to the girl's side. _What part of the world does she live in to have to carry a gun daily? _

Jade on the other hand was studying the woman before her. She had long light brown hair held by a black headband, and aqua-green eyes. She wore a long sleeved black dress and a dark blue-green shawl; the woman did not look a day older than 27 at most. Jade actually had to look down since the woman was about 5'6"-5'7" while Jade was 5'10".

"I am Alice Dupre, Anthony's mother. And you are?" The lady Hatter asked holding out her hand. The girl grabbed it in a solid hold and shook hands with her.

"My name is Jade Queens, ma'am." A surprisingly quiet, but firm voice came from the outsider before her. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise, may I ask why you carry a gun on you if you live in the real world?"

Jade just smirked at this. "Well Mrs. Dupre, if you lived in a place nicknamed Hell's City then you would carry a gun on you too." She said casually as Alice stared at her in shock.

_So you brought someone who can actually defend herself. _She thought to Nightmare.

"You have no idea." The incubus murmured to her as the two watched Jade be dragged around by Anthony to meet everyone.

"This is my uncle Gowland and my friends Boris and Pierce!" Anthony said as the two stopped in front of a man with long reddish brown hair that was in a braid, a fuchsia haired cat boy with multiple piercings and tattoos, and a mouse boy with red hair and blonde streaks. The mouse boy looked like he was going to faint any second from just being in the same room as the cat; Jade then was dragged to the next set of people.

It was the obvious owners of the castle if the crowns and hearts did not say anything about it. There was a man with rabbit ears and he had white hair and red eyes, he also wore glasses. Next to him was a man with short light brown hair and red eyes and who carried a sword and behind him was a man with grayish brown hair with a mustache and beard, he was obviously the king with the way he was dressed. The last person had her heart stop though. The Queen of Hearts was a beautiful woman with long dark purple hair and amethyst colored eyes but what shocked Jade was how much she looked like Lilith! The tattoo artist did not to say anything about it though and decided that she would ask Nightmare about the weird coincidence later.

"This is my friends Peter, Ace, and the King, and the Queen is my auntie Vivaldi!" Anthony said before dragging her to another group.

"And this is my uncles Elliot, Dee, and Dum!" The boy said as he dragged Jade to a man with orange hair and rabbit ears and two twins who were about her age, one with long black hair tied into a pony tail with blue eyes while the other had short black hair and red eyes.

_How many friends does this kid have? _Jade thought before the little boy tugged on her hand again to the last group of people.

The 21 year old soon found herself facing two men who also appeared to be twins but the two looked exactly the same in every way, the only thing telling them apart was that one was dressed as a prison warden while his twin was dressed as a jester.

"These two are the Jokers, Black is the prison warden and White is the jester and owner of the circus! The two of them have taught me how to play lots of card games." Anthony said with a grin. "And finally this is my friend Julius!"

The man before her was interesting to say the least; he had long purplish-blue hair that was tied into a loose ponytail and he had sapphire blue eyes that were hidden behind a pair of glasses similar to Jade's. He wore a long sleeved, white button up shirt, a yellow vest on top of that and a long black trench coat and black slacks. What stood out the most was the clock earring he wore on his left ear and the clock he wore as a brooch.

_He must be the Clock Maker that Nightmare was telling me about…he's not too bad looking. Hell, all the guys here aren't that bad looking. _Jade thought with a slight smirk. _If only the guys back home looked this good._

At the corner of her eye Jade could see Nightmare chuckling to himself and instantly remembered that the silver haired incubus could read minds, it didn't embarrassed her however, just annoyed her a bit. The 21 year old then noticed that out of all of the men that Anthony introduced to her that not a single one was introduced as the boy's father. She was about to ask the orange clad boy where his father was when she caught the look Nightmare was giving her practically saying "don't ask"; she subtly frowned at this but turned her attention back on the large group.

"It's nice to meet all of you." Jade said politely.

"It is also nice to meet you Jade Queens. How about we all have a tea party so we can get to know each other better?" The Queen of Hearts suggested with a ghost of a smile, the simple expression reminding Jade too much of her foster mom.

"Of course your Majesty." The raven haired girl said with a slight bow, not wanting to be rude. This made the Queen give a hearty laugh.

"My, my! And we thought Alice was the only outsider with manners! Please, you may call us Vivaldi." The purple haired woman said with a pleased tone before ordering some of the servants to ready the tea party.

_So the Queen talks in Victorian style. _Jade noted with amusement as the group was escorted outside where the sky turned from morning to dusk in a blink of an eye. The tattoo artist would have been amazed at the strange phenomenon but was too stunned by the beautiful sight of the rose garden in front of her.

"Wow, this garden is amazing!" The green eyed girl said with awe as the group sat down at a long table in the middle of the garden, Anthony sitting on her left with his mother and Vivaldi sitting beside her at the head of the table.

"Why thank you Jade, we love our roses especially during this time. It brings out the marvelous red color in them." Vivaldi said with a dreamy smile as the servants poured all the Role Holders tea. "Do you happen to like roses?"

"Actually I do, it's one of my favorite things to draw on my spare time. It's actually one of the first things that my mom taught me to draw." Jade said with a smile as she briefly relived the memory in her mind.

"So you draw?" The King of Hearts asked with interest. "What else do you draw?"

"Oh many things, but my best work is the ideas my clients come to me with."

"Clients?" Ace asked with a curious smile.

"Oh I'm a tattoo artist." Jade said causally as Alice and Vivaldi nearly choked on their drinks in shock.

"You're a tattoo artist? That's so cool!" Boris said. "Can you do my next tattoo? I want to get a badass looking skeleton fish on my forearm or something."

"Sure man, come to my mom's shop and I can do it for you. You might want to hide your tail and ears though." The raven haired girl said with a chuckle.

"Wait, your mother owns the tattoo shop you work at?" Alice asked incredulously, obviously not pleased with the kind of work that Jade and Lilith do.

"Yeah it's called _She-Devil Tattoos;_ it was her dad's shop but once he died she became in charge. Now it's her, me, and my three sisters that run it."

"What about your father? Shouldn't he be running the shop too?" Julius asked with an arched eyebrow.

"My sisters and I don't have a father. Our mom is all we need." The 21 year old said with a smirk as she sipped her tea for the first time, surprised by the delicious taste.

_The taste of this is familiar but where have I had it before? _She wondered as she took another sip, however she could not pinpoint when she has had it in her memories. Suddenly an image of another tea party at the same place she was now appeared in her mind's eye, but what was different about this one was instead of a large group of 17 other people with her there were only three, yet all of them, except for one, were blurred to the point that Jade could not distinguish their features. The one that wasn't blurred appeared to be a young boy with light brown hair but that was all she could see of him before she was brought back to reality.

_What the fuck was that? _She thought as she blinked a few times to regain herself. She didn't get to ponder on it for long when Anthony dragged her to go play with him, Boris and the Tweedles.

As the five went off to play, the Role Holders turned their attention on Nightmare and Gray.

"Nightmare," Alice began sweetly, "why did you bring an outsider at a time like this?"

Even though the lady Hatter was asking nicely, the incubus was no fool, he knew that she was furious with him along with half of the Role Holders.

"Well you saw Jade; you can tell she can protect herself."

"That is not what she asked you Nightmare!" Vivaldi snapped. "Now answer her or off with your head!"

"Now, now Vivaldi, there's no need to lose your temper." The silver haired demon chuckled as the Queen grew red in the face. "There is a reason why she is here and I will reveal it in time, I am just asking you to trust me."

"Why should we trust a sniveling caterpillar like yo-" Vivaldi began but was cut off by Alice.

"Fine Nightmare," She said as the other Role Holders looked at her with surprise but her eyes never left the demon's. "but you better not keep us in the dark for long."

The incubus just smirked.

"Don't worry; you won't be there for long."


	4. Chapter 3

It was a time period later when Jade managed to get a break from playing with Anthony, Boris, and the Tweedles and she was honestly exhausted. The five of them played extreme manhunt in the maze and Jade was it for most of the time. The only advantages that she had was that Anthony and Boris stuck together along with the twins, and that after a good hour of running around the entire maze Jade managed to map out every twist and turn thanks to her eidetic memory; after that the only problem she had was catching the boys. It was when dusk shifted to afternoon did a card soldier retrieved them and brought the five back for dinner. When dinner was over the boys wanted to play again but she reclined saying that she wanted to look around at the rest of the castle.

"Oh, okay! How about I give you a tour then Miss Jade?" Anthony asked with big, hopeful green eyes.

_Damn, how can I say no to a face like that? _Jade thought with a hint of a smile, not minding if the young lad showed her around. "Sure Anthony."

"Yay!" The boy cheered before grabbing her hand to guide her around. The young woman couldn't help but laugh at how joyful the boy was when he was with her. It also seemed that it amused the servants of the castle too since every time Anthony would drag her past some of them the faceless servants would either smile or laugh at the sight of the nine year old dragging the tattoo artist. Shortly after Anthony showed Jade where the bathes were the boy began to yawn a lot.

"Is the young master tired?" One of the maids asked when the two stopped; the boy just nodded sleepily. "Here, I'll escort you back to your room Lord Anthony."

"How about I do it?" Jade suggested as the maid looked at her with surprise. "You look busy and I have nothing else to do."

"Are you sure Miss Jade?" The maid asked but the raven haired girl just waved her away before having Anthony hop on her back piggy-back style.

"Yeah I'll be fine, I know where his room his. Thank you though." Jade said before heading in the direction of the room that Anthony and his mother shared.

_Good thing he showed me that or else I really would have been screwed. _She thought with a chuckle as she carried the now unconscious boy to his bedroom. After she laid him on his bed and began taking off his shoes, hat, and vest, Jade nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand placed on her shoulder. She relaxed though when she saw it was only Anthony's mother.

"Sorry for startling you, one of the maids told me that you were bringing my son back here and I just wanted to make sure you two didn't get lost." Alice explained, her voice barely above a whisper so that she didn't wake the youngest Dupre. "How about I take over and after I get him settled I'll show you to your room? You must be tired from playing with him and the boys."

"Oh you don't have to Mrs. Dupre, I'll just ask one of the servants-"

"No, I insist. And please, call me Alice."

"Okay, thank you Alice." Jade murmured before silently walking out of the room before waiting patiently in the hallway. She didn't have to wait long, after a few minutes the lady Hatter joined her.

"So how do you like Wonderland so far Jade?" Alice asked as the two walked down the hall.

"It is…interesting to say the least." Jade answered as the older woman giggled. "How long have you lived here Alice?"

"Oh I lived here since I was 17…so almost 24 years now."

This had Jade stop in her tracks and staring at the woman before her with a slack jaw.

"24 years? You don't look a day over 27!" The girl exclaimed with wide eyes. "There is no way in hell that you are 41!"

"You're right," Alice said with a quirky smile. "I'm only 40."

"How is that possible-you know what, never mind." Jade muttered, remembering that she was in a strange world to begin with so it shouldn't come as a surprise that people here don't age physically.

_It's like fucking Highlander but without the decapitation of immortals._ The tattoo artist thought with amusement as the two women continued on their way.

"Well this room should be fine for you." Alice said after stopping in front of one of the guest rooms and showing Jade in. "If you need anything don't hesitate to ask one of the servants or Role Holders."

"Thanks Alice, good night-well morning now." Jade said with a chuckle as she saw the time period was now morning again. She then remembered something. "Hey Alice, may I ask you something?"

"Of course Jade."

"Where is Mr. Dupre?"

Jade instantly regretted asking that when she saw the sorrow and distress in the woman's aqua-green eyes, Alice though just forced a smile.

"He's been busy lately…it's complicated." She said softly.

"I'm sorry if I upset you-"

"No it's all right, you didn't know. Good night Jade." As Alice left, the 21 year old let out a sigh.

_Well that could have gone better…but now I'm really curious about what happened to Anthony's dad._ She thought as she took off her hat and glasses, along with her shoes.

"Shit, I have nothing to sleep in." She murmured as she realized the fact. Jade was about to put her shoes back on and go ask one of the maids if the Queen had any spare pajamas hanging around when she caught sight of dark green night gown on the dresser by the door. Deciding that the night gown had to do for now, she got undressed before putting it on and hopping into bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow she was out cold.

_**Jade found herself standing in front of a tall mirror but instead of seeing the current her she saw a little girl with long black hair and big jade green eyes. Her raven black hair was pulled back into a ponytail and held in place by a green ribbon, the young girl was also dressed in a matching green sundress, white knee high socks, and black dress shoes. It was then that Jade realized she was staring at her 11 year old self.**_

I don't remember this…is this possibly a memory? _**She thought as she watched through the girl's eyes as she got ready to go visit a friend.**_

"_**C'mon sis, mother is waiting for us!" A young boy's voice called out from outside the room.**_

Wait, I have a brother? _**Jade thought with shock. **_

"_**Coming!" Little Jade said before checking herself one last time; she then left. **_

_**The scene then changed to a sunny day and this time little Jade was looking at her reflection from the pond's water. **_

"_**Do you think we are going to catch any fish today brother?" She asked with excitement before looking behind her to spot her brother as he got the fishing poles ready, his mint green eyes showing his frustration.**_

Isn't that the kid from the tea party? Wait, he's my brother?

"_**Hopefully, but first I have to untangle the fishing lines. They're still twisted together from when our uncles used them!" He said as he struggled with the task. Little Jade just giggled before helping him.**_

"_**That was funny, especially when all three of them fell into the water!" She said as both her and her brother laughed.**_

Jade suddenly woke up when she heard knocking at her door. It actually took her a few seconds to figure out why she wasn't in her room at the shop when the memories of yesterday flooded her mind. _Oh yeah, in a messed up world called Wonderland and I'm stuck here until the stupid vial Nightmare gave me fills back up._ She thought with slight annoyance from the rude awakening.

"Coming!" She said as she got up to go to the door, feeling a bit of déjà vu from her dream.

_I need to talk to Nightmare about that. _She thought as she opened the door to only see a faceless maid but this one was different. Instead of the maids that were dressed in black and red this one was dressed in white with card suits on her apron and a mini top hat on her head.

"Yes?" Jade asked, hiding her yawn behind her hand. She frowned when the maid didn't say anything but stared (well stared as much as a faceless person could) at her with what appeared to be shock. The maid seemed to snap out of it when she realized that Jade was speaking to her.

"Oh I'm terribly sorry that I woke you Miss Jade! Her Majesty wanted me to give you these towels since she figured you might want to take a bath before breakfast." The maid explained before handing the tattoo artist red and black towels.

"Oh it's no problem," The girl assuaged her. "But may I ask why you are dressed differently than the other maids? I'm quite curious about that."

"It's because I'm not really a maid for the Queen of Hearts, I'm one of the maids for the Hatters."

"Hatters?"

"Yes that's right, you just got here. The Hatters are the Mafia lead by Lady Dupre's husband, Blood Dupre." The maid explained as Jade's jaw nearly hit the floor. "Master Elliot, Dee, and Dum are also part of the Hatters…Is there something wrong Miss Jade?"

"No, no, not at all. You may go now." Jade said absently before shutting the door on the maid. Her mind remained blank as she got dressed and headed towards the dining room only to explode when she saw Anthony and his mother along with Elliot, Dee, and Dum and the other Role Holders.

"You didn't tell me that you are the Mafia!" She said as the Hatters looked at her with surprise.

"We didn't?" Dee asked as he looked at his brother.

"Oops." Dum said before the two grinned sheepishly along with Elliot, Alice, and Anthony.

"It must have slipped our minds." Elliot said as he scratched the back of his neck with an apologetic smile. "Who told you by the way?"

"One of the maids did because I asked her why she wasn't dressed like the other maids here."

"I'm guessing you must be appalled with us." Alice said as her son gave Jade a sad look.

"No, I'm just surprised is all." The raven haired girl said with a sigh before sitting down next to Anthony and Alice, she then smirked. "It's not every day you meet the Mafia, I'm only used to gangs where I come from. Besides, if I was appalled by the fact that you guys are the Mafia then I would be calling myself a hypocrite."

"And why would you call yourself that?" Boris asked with curiosity.

"Because I'm a leader of a gang."

"WHAT?!" Practically all the Role Holders screamed at once.

"Yeah, we are called the Cards Crew because we all love to play card games."

"Is that why you have a spade tattooed on your wrist?" Julius asked eying said tattoo.

"Yup, it was my sister Ember's idea that all four of us get a card suit tattoo on our wrists and our mom came up with the design. Our mom is actually our unofficial fifth member since she protects our turf when my sisters and I have to answer a challenge from another gang so she has a Celtic Q tattoo for not only our family name but since she's considered our Queen in a sense, though she hates it when we call her that even when we are joking."

"Wait, your mother actually approves of you and your sisters being in a gang!" The King exclaimed as Jade's smirk grew.

"Of course, she's the one who actually taught us how to fight."

"That is astounding, but the thought of you leading a gang that consists of your sisters and mother is confounding!" Peter exclaimed as Jade shot him an amused stare.

"Why is it because we're all female?" Jade asked coolly as her stare harden, daring the man to say yes.

_Peter better choose his answer wisely. _Alice thought with nervous amusement as the moment between Jade and the White Rabbit grew tense.

"Preciously!"

_And Peter just killed himself._ Alice thought with a sigh.

"All right White, how about we have a spar? You and me, no weapons, just hand to hand combat." Jade challenged as she stood up and took her gun out of its holster and put it on the table along with her glasses. "Then I'll show you what a leader of an all girls gang can do in a fight."

"I will not go against a girl in a fight! It simply isn't right!"

"White, we order you to fight her. It is your fault for insulting her." Vivaldi said with a cruel smile.

"But my Queen-!"

"Do it or we will have your head chopped off!"

Seeing that he had no choice, Peter placed all his weapons on the table before him and Jade walked across the room where there was more space to move.

"This should be good." Ace said to Julius with a snicker, obviously thinking that the 21 year old was going to lose for sure.

"I hope Jade doesn't get too badly hurt." Alice fretted as the tattoo artist and White Rabbit got into fighting stances.

"It's Peter I'm more worried about." Nightmare said with a smirk as the fight began.

Since Peter was obviously hesitating about attacking Jade, the raven haired girl took the advantage and slammed her fist into his diaphragm, instantly knocking the wind out of his lungs. As he went to bend over to clutch his stomach, Jade simply pivoted on her left foot while she brought her right leg past her head before landing an axe kick to the rabbit's back, sending him face first into the ground. Instead of finishing him right there by breaking his back like she does in most fights, Jade just took a couple steps back as the White Rabbit tried to get back up.

"Are you going to take me seriously now White, or do I have to continue to wipe the floor with your face?" The girl asked with a mocking smile, it was wiped off though when he suddenly appeared in front of her and gave a right hook to her cheek.

_How is she still standing?! _Peter thought with shock. Usually a hit like that would send someone to the ground but it only snapped Jade's head to the left, the abrupt turn knocking off her hat. He froze in place when the girl spat out blood before turning her head to face him. Without her hat it was easier to see her facial features and being up close to her made them even more pronounced. With her glasses Jade's eyes appear softer and innocent but without them her jade green eyes were sharper and had a calm but deadly look in them. It was the same with her hat, it made her face seem more round and her hair more tamed since it was so short that only her bangs and the hair on her neck could be seen. Without it though, her face was actually more heart shaped and her hair was more choppy and wild. What made the White Rabbit freeze though was how her blood covered lips curved in an all-too-familiar smirk that only a certain Hatter gave him when mocking him.

"I see you finally decided to grow some balls White," Jade said with chuckle before licking her lips of blood. "But your hits still don't compare to that of a lead pipe."

Jade then swooped down and kicked the Prime Minister's feet out from under him causing him to land on his back. Before he could even think about getting up, the raven haired girl's foot was on his throat.

"Want to know an interesting fact White? When a man receives a hit to his adam's apple his air supple is cut off briefly." She said in a casual tone before suddenly pressing her foot down on his throat causing the white hair man to gasp for air; she then relieved the pressure so that he could breath but did not take her foot off of his neck. "And if the hit is hard enough to shatter his adam's apple, the man will suffocate and die. So do you want to change your opinion about girls being in gangs or should I show you what it's like to die from suffocation?"

"No that is fine! I have definitely changed my mind!" He practically squeaked once Jade released her hold on him, the White Rabbit then scrambled to his feet and practically ran to the other side of the room where his guns were located. The raven haired girl just smirked before picking up her hat and putting it back on before she walked over to the dining table full of stunned Role Holders.

"If you need me I'll be taking a bath." Jade said nonchalantly as she grabbed her glasses and gun.

Once the tattoo artist left the room there was only one thought in everyone's mind:

_Why does she look so much like Blood Dupre?_


End file.
